The invention relates to an inflator, especially for a protective device in a vehicle. Furthermore the invention relates to an airbag module for a vehicle.
Inflators for protective devices in a vehicle are especially provided for driving particular members (propping up of hoods, tensioning of the safety belt, shifting of cushions or the like) or for inflating airbags so as to prevent a vehicle occupant from impacting onto hard vehicle parts.
The requirements to the efficiency of an inflator in general are very high. In an extremely short time a particular amount of gas must be made available which shall not be too hot and preferably free of particles. An inflator also should be as light-weight as possible and require little space so that e.g. in the case of mounting in a steering wheel particular requirements of the steering wheel design can be observed.